pixie: So, let’s start off with the tour – how is it going, even though it’s about over?
Obi: It’s been really great. The bands are amazing, Beacon Light and Bedouin
Soundclash have been amazing and we’re having a really good time out here
because it’s basically everybody taking one kind of music with different
interpretations.
pixie: Do you have any great stories.. anything ridiculous?
Obi: There’s been a few of those. I’ll just say that Seattle was a pretty crazy night and I’ll just leave it at that.
pixie: No details?
Obi: Seattle turns into something like a Spring Break session somehow. I don’t know how…
pixie: Girls gone wild?
Obi: Sort of!
pixie: See, nobody ever admits to that! None of the bands ever say, “oh yeah, we’re getting crazy!”
Obi: Well, it’s not like that! We’re just having fun, you know?
pixie: So how do you guys travel on this tour?
Obi: We’re in a 15-passenger van with a trailer. It’s very comfortable. We have a loft in the back and we have captain’s chairs, so everybody kind of gets their own space. We don’t have to share benches or worry about people falling asleep on your shoulder in the middle of the night, drooling on you….
pixie: That limits conflict on some level, I’m sure. I’ve heard stories of people fist-fighting for benches on vans and such.
Obi: Yeah, yeah, definitely. When we first started touring, we traveled like that but once we went to the captain’s chairs, we’ll never go back. They’re amazing.
pixie: That’s classy. I like that….
Obi: No bus for us. We only get buses in Europe.
pixie: The scene for ska, reggae, and the like is bigger in Europe, isn’t it?
Obi: Over in Europe, a lot of people seem to be in touch with the older ska and reggae and there definitely seems to be a bigger scene for it out there than there is in the States right now.
pixie: Why do you think that is?
Obi: I think they don’t take music, in general, for granted over there. In the States, there are shows all the time, like tonight, there’s probably over 10,000 bands playing across the US. Over there, they seem to be more open to a lot of music -- not just ska and reggae, mind you, but the ska and reggae fans are super-loyal and that’s what they dig and stick to. As far as the bands they’re really into, they’re so loyal.
pixie: I think there are a lot of strong roots for that type of music over there, as well…
Obi: For sure. You have a lot of Jamaican artists and then the migrate over to the mainland and there is a lot more going on over there when it comes to that kind of stuff.
pixie: Of course. It’s such a different culture… Do you prefer being over there or back here?
Obi: I love being here… when I go over there, it makes me appreciate America that much more. It’s great being over there, it’s really incredible, but at the same time, I love being here and I love this country and doing shows here. You can’t find places like New York City in Europe. There are a lot of great places in Europe… but places like New York City and Boston? Home will always be home.
pixie: You’re actually from Boston, right?
Obi: Well, the band is from Boston and I lived there for six years. We’re a little spread out and scattered over New England these days, but the band originated in Boston.
pixie: Boston is the pride city.. people have so much pride in Boston.
Obi: This is very true. It’s a great place and a great town. It’s beautiful, with a lot going on and a lot of diversity – a bit of something for everyone.
pixie: So… your MySpace says you’re going to do Warped 2009… but not 2008. How did that come about? Was that your choice or their choice?
Obi: [laughs] Well, actually what happened was Kevin Lyman was at our show in Hollywood and he said, “you know, the tour just filled up really fast in 2008, and I wish I could give you some shows, but you have the tour in 2009 if you want.” He just really dug what we did that night, and just really loved the show and gave us the tour in 2009. It’s kind of cool to play a show and the next day, have Kevin Lyman write about it the next day and announce you as the first band of 2009…
pixie: Seeing as they’re not done announcing 2008 yet, I’d say so…
Obi: Exactly. Kevin Lyman is on top of his game. That guy is pretty incredible.
pixie: I’ve never heard anything bad about him. You hear a lot of horror stories about certain people in the business, but he really has a good name for himself.
Obi: He’s just a sweetheart. He loves music, and he loves helping people out. I feel like he’s always done it in the right way all along.
pixie: The tour really does help launch a lot of bands… when you look at the history of it, there have been a lot of success stories. So congratulations on 2009. So after the current tour, what’s next?
Obi: We have to make a new record for Hellcat, so we started demoing some songs when we were in California. We’re going to try to lock ourselves up, take our time, and make a new record. We have to go back to Europe in November, and some talks about tours with different bands, but the most important focus will be the new record.
pixie: Something for people to look forward to, then. Do you have any songs fully written yet?
Obi: We do. You might be able to hear some stuff… the Hellcat Web site is going to have some clips on it that might have snippets of new stuff in it.
pixie: And how is it working with Hellcat?
Obi: Great. They’re all so sweet and they’ve been really great to us. For any label to kind of take a band like us and put out their records is pretty awesome because we’re definitely not pop stars or playing pop music, according to American standards, anyway.
pixie: But would you really want to be doing that?
Obi: No, I really wouldn’t want to be *NSYNC or Hannah Montana…
pixie: You’d look a little funny in the wig, anyway…
Obi: Yeah, not my look. I like being part of a sub-culture… you know?
pixie: So where do you feel like you fit into the punk scene? Do you think of yourselves as a part of that sub-culture, even?
Obi: I think sometimes we do. We’ve played shows with punk bands like Street Dogs and those guys appreciate a lot of where the music came from with reggae… bands like The Clash… so we kind of sort of fit in. For us, we’re heading down the more old school R&B direction, so I’m not sure how the punk kids are going to take to that, but it seems like the kids always appreciate the reggae and what we do, but sometimes I could see it also being a conflict. It doesn’t happen very often, though.
pixie: I guess it depends on how you define “punk.” Some people are very “it’s this and this and this,” and others say it’s just being true to yourself and what you believe and want to play….
Obi: Yeah, exactly. In general, people just want to dance and have a good time and if we can give people good dance music and that opportunity, then we’re doing something right.
pixie: It makes for a good show.
Obi: For sure.
pixie: So, if somebody handed you $1,000,000 and said “make any merchandise for your band,” what would you make?
Obi: Oh man… does it have to be all merchandise? Can I take some of the money and buy a plane?
pixie: Sure, you could buy a plane if you wanted… you could make a Westbound Train plane… though that would be a little odd, now that I’ve said it out loud.
Obi: Yeah… I don’t know. You know what? I would start a new movement. It would be the Sammy K movement. Sammy K is our merch guy and it’s really funny because every night he gets all these girls to talk to him and the next day they’re stalking him on MySpace but he’s not sleazy about it. He’s just a good talker, you know? So I would start a campaign for him and Westbound Train would be behind him. We’d have t-shirts and buses with his face on them and try to get him to become Presdent because he has some good ideas.
pixie: Nice. If he’s already charismatic enough to get stalked, why not?
Obi: Well, he’s a little shy, but I think the Sammy K campaign would help him out a lot.
pixie: That’s a very generous use of the million dollars, helping someone else out.
Obi: I’m a generous kind of guy. I could also take the money and try to spread the wealth in general, you know, after taking at least some for ourselves, anyway…
pixie: So do you have anything to say to the people reading the interview?
Obi: Thank you so much for the support, especially the past couple of years. Our fans who come out to see us are awesome, and it’s great to come out to new places and there are people there who care about what we’re doing. If you’re just discovering the band? Just keep checking us out and I hope the next record will be able to do something for you!
You can check out Westbound Train on their MySpace and at Hellcat Records.
